Guitarist Lord Ahriman of the Swedish black metallers DARK FUNERAL has issued the following update:

"I'm sorry for the long silence since the last update. Due to various reasons, we were forced to halt the pre-production we begun working on in the studio some months ago.

"Chaq Mol [guitar] and I have, however, continued to write and trying out new material, but instead of doing it in the studio with a producer, we have been demoing new stuff in my very own home studio (damn, I need a name for it… any suggestions?).

"Anyway, things have been going rather slow but definitely steady forward.

"At this point, I have totally lost track on how many new songs we have completed or even have under progress, but that's not really of any importance right now, I think. We'll just continue to write until it's time to enter the studio. And once we are there, we'll just begin the session by going through everything from scratch, do the final adjustments etc before it's time to nail the songs for good.

"When talking about the studio, there's been some change of producer as well as where we are going to record the new album. We have decided to once again work with Peter Tägtgren [HYPOCRISY, PAIN] at his Abyss Studio. I must say that I didn't really see this coming, but honestly, I am really looking forward to work with Peter again, and so are the other guys. It's has been some 8 years or so since we last worked together with Peter and recorded our 'Diabolis Interium' album. So it's sure about time to once again summon the demons that dwells deep within the Pärlby forest. I'm not sure on the exact date we'll head up there, but sometime late May I believe. As soon as I know more I'll let you know.

"Chaq Mol and I have re-signed our endorsement deal with BC Rich guitars. Both of us have decided to continue to play their NT Warlock, which totally rules if you ask me. And considering the fact that I have been playing BC Rich Warlock (various models) for nearly 20 years now, it should say quite a lot about my feel for their killer guitars. B-Force has signed an endorsement deal with EMG pickups. He will, however, make his own statement on his new gear etc so I'll leave that part to him.

"We have also decided to do a few selected shows before the new album comes out. Not all of them are 100% confirmed as I write this, but the once that is confirmed are [listed below]."